Miller nixes federal minimum wage

He nixed federal unemployment benefits last week, and on Monday Alaska’s Republican Senate nominee Joe Miller, a Tea Party champion, said there should not be a federal minimum wage.

In both cases, Miller has offered the same rationale: There is no mention of jobless aide or a minimum wage in the U.S. Constitution, so workplace issues should be left up to the states.

Miller has been in Washington, D.C., for the past week, attending fund raising events and, according to his Tweets, house-hunting. Largely inaccessible to state media, the Fairbanks lawyer gave an interview Monday to ABC News and Politico.

Asked whether the federal government should require a minimum wage, Miller replied:

“That is clearly up to the states. We believe . . . in fact, the state of Alaska has a minimum wage which is higher than the federal level because our state leaders have made that determination. And the minimum level, again, that should be the state’s decision.”

(Washington also has a minimum wage higher than the federal level, by dint of a citizens’ initiative.)

“So there should not be a federal minimum wage?” Miller was asked as followup.

“There should not be. That is not within the scope of the power that are given to the federal government,” he replied.

Miller upset GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski in Alaska’s Aug. 24th primary, aided by an endorsement from former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsement and $600,000 in spending by the Tea Party Express.

Murkowski is running as a write-in candidate to keep her seat. The Democrats’ nominee, Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams, reported Monday that he has raised $650,000 in what once seemed only a token candidacy.

The Tea Party Express, a group created by Republican political consultants, is returning to the Alaska campaign. It is reportedly getting ready to air a TV spot that characterizes Murkowski as a princess.